Information on training and tools for highway security and emergency management is now easily accessible online at the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) new Highway Infrastructure Security and Emergency Management Professional Capacity Building Web site (www.fhwa.dot.gov/security/emergencymgmt/profcapacitybldg).

"The site is designed to be a user-friendly reference tool that transportation agency practitioners and those with new responsibilities in this area can use to rapidly access information on training, publications, and other resources," says Dan Ferezan, Program Manager for Transportation Security at FHWA. "It brings resources together in one place, instead of practitioners having to visit many different sites to locate information."

The site is separated into sections for Highway Infrastructure Security and Emergency Management. Each section offers links for training resources; Federal publications, including Office of Homeland Security publications, Presidential Directives, and Executive Orders; and State homeland security and emergency management Web sites.

Among the training featured on the site are three workshops sponsored by FHWA. Risk Management for Terrorist Threats to Bridges and Tunnels is a 1.5-day workshop designed to give engineers and managers the knowledge needed to develop a cost-effective risk management plan for a structure using component level analysis. Participants will learn how to identify the strengths and weaknesses of bridge and tunnel components, the damage that could result from terrorist threats, and how to analyze the risk to each component from a specific threat. Threats covered include vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, hand-emplaced improvised explosive devices, nonexplosive cutting devices, fire, and vehicle impact. For additional information, contact Steve Ernst at FHWA, 202-366-4619 (email: steve.ernst@fhwa.dot.gov); or Shay Burrows at the FHWA Resource Center, 410-962-6791 (email: shay.burrows@fhwa.dot.gov)

The 1.5-day Blast Design and Analysis for Bridge Structures workshop focuses on the fundamentals of explosion events, including determining blast loads on bridge structures, computing the structural response to blast loads, and designing and retrofitting structures to resist blast effects. Currently available software for computing blast effects and obtaining design guidance is also discussed and demonstrated. For more information, contact Waider Wong at the FHWA Resource Center, 410-962-9252 (email: waider.wong@fhwa.dot.gov).

Also available is the 4-hour First Responder Awareness to Terrorist Threats for Bridges and Tunnels workshop. The workshop is designed to give first responders, such as law enforcement personnel, inspectors, and other emergency responders, an overview of terrorist threats and structural vulnerabilities. Participants will learn about the strengths and weaknesses of bridge and tunnel components and the damage that could result from terrorist threats. The workshop also covers appropriate mitigation measures for different levels of security alerts. To learn more about the workshop, contact Steve Ernst at FHWA, 202-366-4619 (email: steve.ernst@fhwa.dot.gov); or Shay Burrows at the FHWA Resource Center, 410-962-6791 (email: steve.ernst@fhwa.dot.gov); or Shay Burrows at the FHWA Resource Center, 410-962-6791 (email: shay.burrows@fhwa.dot.gov)

FHWA is working with nine State partners and the Transportation Security Administration to develop additional training products through a pooled-fund study, "Infrastructure Security and Emergency Management" (Study No. TPF-5(161)). "The products are based on what our State partners have requested," says Dan Ferezan of FHWA. Expected to roll out this fall are Web-based modules on the roles, missions, and functions of State transportation agencies in homeland security and emergency management. Separate modules are being developed for transportation agency senior leadership and managers. Also expected to be ready in the fall are a workbook for front-line transportation workers on the National Incident Management System and a Web-based version of the Risk Management for Terrorist Threats to Bridges and Tunnels workshop. The less detailed Web version of the workshop will provide an overall introduction to the material.

Two additional products being planned as part of the pooled-fund study are Web-based training modules on evacuation planning and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP). "The HSEEP training is currently only available as a 4.5-day course. Our goal is to distill down the course into something more easily accessible for transportation agencies," says Ferezan.

As the new training products become available later this year, information and links will be posted on the Highway Infrastructure Security and Emergency Management Professional Capacity Building Web site. To learn more about the many resources available on the site, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/security/emergencymgmt/profcapacitybldg. For additional information on the Web site or the FHWA pooled-fund study, contact Dan Ferezan at FHWA, 202-366-0507 (email: dan.ferezan@fhwa.dot.gov).